'Like Ronaldo going back to Man Utd': Fans react to 'embarrassing' Gatland appointment
The Welsh Rugby Union have made a bold call about 10 months out from the World Cup, as they confirmed Warren Gatland would replace Wayne Pivac as the head coach of Wales.
Super coach Gatland etched his name into Welsh rugby folklore during his decorated first stint in charge of the team, where he guided Wales to two World Cup semi-finals and three Grand Slams.
New Zealand-born Gatland, who was also the head coach of the British and Irish Lions on three tours, is set to return to Wales for next year’s Six Nations and Rugby World Cup – and potentially beyond.
While Gatland boasts unparalleled experience in charge of the national team, this appointment may prove to be one of his toughest challenges yet considering the form Wales have been in.
After starting their season with an emphatic 29-7 loss against Ireland in Dublin, Cymru went on to place second last in this year’s Six Nations – which included a thrilling loss to Italy.
While they were able to win one of their three July internationals in South Africa against the reigning World Cup champions, Wales struggled to maintain any momentum during the Autumn Nations Series.
The All Blacks seemed to turn their form around with a dominant display against Wales in Cardiff, and while the men in red bounced back with a seven-point win over Argentina, they finished their year with two disastrous losses.
After a shocking 12-13 loss to Georgia in Cardiff, Wales squandered a 21-point lead against the Wallabies the following weekend.
While the prodigal son in Gatland has returned to lead Wales’ resurgence ahead of the World Cup, some fans on Twitter have expressed why they aren’t so sure that it’s the right move.
This is going to be like Ronaldo going back to Man Utd…. it’s not going to be the dream fairytale everybody hopes it will be 😅
— Leighton 🏴🇰🇷🏴🇰🇷 (@Leightongreat) December 5, 2022
The problem for Wales is all their great players are over the hill. And very little equivalent talent coming through
— Brian Flynn (@Iagodicomo) December 5, 2022
Not going to make a big difference, not got the player depth or ability to compete at top level imo. Bigger structural shake up needed than having a new coach. Hope i’m proved wrong but i just don’t see a new coach turning these players into world beaters.
— Tony Dudley (@TonyDudley5) December 5, 2022
Is going back ever a good thing?
Think of Regan King’s return to the Scarlets, Ronaldo to Man Utd and Thierry Henry to Arsenal.
Just saying.
— Alun Rees (@alunrees61) December 5, 2022
Difficult for Pivac, a season too far for some and others underperforming. Think Gatland may regret returning. But not sure WRU had many options.
— Gtg (@lazy_holidays) December 5, 2022
The Welsh rugby union determined to paper over the cracks for another little while I see, rather than address the problems at source. Embarrassing to see from such a proud rugby nation.
— jonathan o neill (@snookeramerica) December 5, 2022
The cracks will re-emerge.
— DRP (@DRP22108993) December 5, 2022
Good news for Chief Fans. Wales not looking forward. Can’t keep doing the same thing and expecting different results.
— Jordan Bernarde (@Jordan_Bernarde) December 5, 2022
Well my Welsh Rugby cousins, how we feel.about this…think privac was unlucky with injuries to key players in aut.nearly a full team missing if not mistaken..WG will cause an initial reaction and wales with players back to do well in 6ns..but how do ye feel bout this long term??
— barry clarke (@killoebaz11) December 5, 2022
If he stays beyond the next 12 months of pure “firefighting” at Test pro level, will he have a mandate 2024-27 to involve himself in belatedly remedying the structural mess left over from 2003’s botched resource concentration at non-Test pro level…? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/spRdGUJ4sA
— GJPowell (@TheVietGwent) December 5, 2022
Wales’ final two Test matches of the year somewhat summed up where this team was heading a year out from the World Cup.
Change was needed.
And while Gatland is always going to have his critics, a lot of supporters are backing him to help the proud rugby nation return to their former glory.
Last week wales were 25-1 to win next years 6 nations. I punted £25 quid on the off chance Gats came back…… that’s looking like a sound bet now!
— Owain Glynd?r (@IgtIan) December 5, 2022
The messiah returns pic.twitter.com/j5wZeSDpUp
— Grumpy Dumpty (@grumpy_dumpty1) December 5, 2022
We’re winning the world cup
— Liam (@liampag27) December 5, 2022
Great appointment but I feel we should have stayed with Pivac. We almost won a test series in South Africa and almost a grand slam in 2021. The squad is really good whoever is at the helm.
— PaulSimon (@DrPSW1) December 5, 2022
Great choice
— Anjela Galloway (@AnjelaGalloway) December 5, 2022
The king is back long, living the king
I’m so happy that Warren has come back.
Let’s hope everything all works out for him— darren watts (@dazwales240870) December 5, 2022
My wife predicted this a year ago: she’s just reminded me. I expect I will be reminded repeatedly.
— Steve Mallinson (@Steve_Mallinson) December 5, 2022
— Harry (@harrys_72) December 5, 2022
Wales are in Pool C along with familiar foes Australia and Fiji, who they went up against at the 2019 iteration of rugby’s biggest event.
The other two nations in the pool are Georgia and Portugal.
Comments on RugbyPass
A year ago Ireland and France looked impressive. In this 6N neither looked special. Both have lost good players, but more importantly teams have figured out how to shut them down. In particular the Irish loss to a rebuilding England and the home game struggle against a brave Scotland did nothing to prove that the Irish RWC result was undeserved. If the Scots can shut down the Irish attack, then SA can do so with interest. Rassie will have watched that game with confidence. Farrell is smart, and the Irish team is talented, so we should expect a more creative game plan in SA. But if all they bring is what they showed against Scotland then Ireland is going to struggle against the Boks. It was a fun 6N tournament, but the win for Ireland was as much about weak competition as about Irish brilliance. It was mostly due to France being off the boil, Wales and Italy not being contenders, and Scotland being a home game. England are looking much better, but “much better” should not be enough to topple a team that is supposed by some to be The Best in the World. I hope that Ireland can bump it up a notch or two for the Bok tour. A year ago they were fantastic to watch. It would be great to see that again.
24 Go to commentsLooking forward to the Wallabies being competitive again. No doubt that Joe can get them back on track.
1 Go to commentsThanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.
41 Go to commentsGreat story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
41 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
24 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
41 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
41 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
3 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to comments